Project

# Title Team Members TA Documents Sponsor
17 Shower Music Controller
 Amar Patel
Shalin Joshi
Varnith Aleti
 Eric Tang design_document1.pdf
proposal1.pdf
# Shower Music Controller

Team Members:
- Shalin Joshi (shalinj2)
- Amar Patel (amarcp2)
- Varnith Aleti (valet3)

# Problem

People often like to listen to music when they are in the shower, but it is very inconvenient to control/play specific music with wet hands, foggy screens, and with devices that aren't waterproof. If the person wants to switch the song, it leads to issues of getting the phone wet, having to step out of the shower, or just being stuck with whatever song is being played.

# Solution

The solution is a waterproof device that can be stuck to a shower wall, which allows the user to play, pause, skip, and even search for their playlists/songs from Spotify. This device will act as a Bluetooth remote interface to connect to a phone companion app. The app will be able to call the Spotify API and communicate with the device in order to do each task. The device will include buttons for playback actions and D-Pad buttons to navigate the UI on a screen.

# Solution Components

## Subsystem 1 - Embedded UI (Screen + Buttons)

Displays different menus and music lists (search, my playlists, now playing) and captures user input by using physical buttons. The buttons will be different ones for playback controls (play, pause, skip, volume) and a d-pad to navigate through the menus and songs on the UI. D-pad implemented using 4 tactile switches (UP/DOWN/LEFT/RIGHT) arranged in a cross layout plus a center SELECT switch, all mounted on the PCB and covered through a waterproof silicone membrane.

Components:
- SPI TFT display module using ILI9341 controller
- Tactile Switches

## Subsystem 2 - Microcontroller + BLE Communication

Runs the software for the button controls and has Bluetooth communication with the phone. Sends commands (play/pause, search query, select track) and receives results/status updates from the phone.

Components:
- ESP32 Microcontroller

## Subsystem 3 - Phone Companion App + Spotify Integration

Handles Spotify authentication and all Web API requests. Translates Bluetooth messages from the device into Spotify actions and returns data back to the device. The app will do all the music control and Spotify connections and communicate with the device in order to know which actions to perform

Components:
- Mobile app using Swift or React
- Spotify WebAPI

## Subsystem 4 - Power, Charging, and Water-resistant Enclosure

Provides safe portable power, charging, voltage regulation, and physical waterproofing suitable for shower spray/steam. This subsystem will ensure that the device and its components are water-resistant and have charging capabilities. We will make sure that water doesn’t harm our device by enclosing it in a 3D-printed enclosure. The screen will be covered by a clear acrylic/polycarbonate display window, and the buttons will be lined with a silicone membrane. When the user wants to charge the device, they will remove it from the enclosure and shower and charge it elsewhere.

Components:
- LiPo Battery
- Li-ion charger IC/module (USB powered charging)
- 3.3V regulator for MCU and display
- Waterproof enclosure elements
- 3D printed enclosure for the device board and circuitry
- Clear acrylic/polycarbonate display window
- Silicone membrane for buttons

# Criterion For Success
- From the shower device, the user can successfully perform different playback actions with a maximum 1-2 seconds of delay: Play/Pause, Next Track, Previous Track, Volume Up/Down
- Users can enter a search query using buttons, submit it, receive at least 5 search results on the device screen, select one, and start playback.
- Device can connect through bluetooth to phone companion app and remain connected through the entire duration of a shower
- Device remains functional after 5 minutes of exposure to shower spray/steam.
- Device operates for at least 2 hours of active use on a full charge.

BusPlan

Aashish Kapur, Connor Lake, Scott Liu

BusPlan

Featured Project

# People

Scott Liu - sliu125

Connor Lake - crlake2

Aashish Kapur - askapur2

# Problem

Buses are scheduled inefficiently. Traditionally buses are scheduled in 10-30 minute intervals with no regard the the actual load of people at any given stop at a given time. This results in some buses being packed, and others empty.

# Solution Overview

Introducing the _BusPlan_: A network of smart detectors that actively survey the amount of people waiting at a bus stop to determine the ideal amount of buses at any given time and location.

To technically achieve this, the device will use a wifi chip to listen for probe requests from nearby wifi-devices (we assume to be closely correlated with the number of people). It will use a radio chip to mesh network with other nearby devices at other bus stops. For power the device will use a solar cell and Li-Ion battery.

With the existing mesh network, we also are considering hosting wifi at each deployed location. This might include media, advertisements, localized wifi (restricted to bus stops), weather forecasts, and much more.

# Solution Components

## Wifi Chip

- esp8266 to wake periodically and listen for wifi probe requests.

## Radio chip

- NRF24L01 chip to connect to nearby devices and send/receive data.

## Microcontroller

- Microcontroller (Atmel atmega328) to control the RF chip and the wifi chip. It also manages the caching and sending of data. After further research we may not need this microcontroller. We will attempt to use just the ens86606 chip and if we cannot successfully use the SPI interface, we will use the atmega as a middleman.

## Power Subsystem

- Solar panel that will convert solar power to electrical power

- Power regulator chip in charge of taking the power from the solar panel and charging a small battery with it

- Small Li-Ion battery to act as a buffer for shady moments and rainy days

## Software and Server

- Backend api to receive and store data in mongodb or mysql database

- Data visualization frontend

- Machine learning predictions (using LSTM model)

# Criteria for Success

- Successfully collect an accurate measurement of number of people at bus stops

- Use data to determine optimized bus deployment schedules.

- Use data to provide useful visualizations.

# Ethics and Safety

It is important to take into consideration the privacy aspect of users when collecting unique device tokens. We will make sure to follow the existing ethics guidelines established by IEEE and ACM.

There are several potential issues that might arise under very specific conditions: High temperature and harsh environment factors may make the Li-Ion batteries explode. Rainy or moist environments may lead to short-circuiting of the device.

We plan to address all these issues upon our project proposal.

# Competitors

https://www.accuware.com/products/locate-wifi-devices/

Accuware currently has a device that helps locate wifi devices. However our devices will be tailored for bus stops and the data will be formatted in a the most productive ways from the perspective of bus companies.